Photographer who ‘froze history’ dies

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JOE ROSENTHAL, the photographer who took the iconic image of Second World War American troops raising their flag over the battle-scarred island of Iwo Jima, has died at the age of 94.

Rosenthal’s magnum opus, which won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1945, was printed in publications around the world and went on to appear on posters and stamps and in a John Wayne movie. It also served as a model for the Marine Corps memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. The Pulitzer committee described the photograph as a “frozen flash of history”.